The study of the fundamental chemical and biological activity of complex natural products is key to understanding their mechanism of action and developing therapeutics for the treatment of diseases. This research program aims to develop efficient synthesis of structurally complex, chemically intricate and biologically active natural products through the application and development of new strategies and methodologies for organic synthesis. Strategies inspired by biogenetic considerations are pursued to afford potentially broader solutions to families of compounds while providing insight into the possible biosynthetic paths responsible for their biogenesis. Targets are selected on the basis of interesting and novel molecular architecture, paucity of prior synthetic studies, biological activity, and the potential for future chemical and biological mechanistic studies. The planned syntheses are designed to develop new complexity generating sequence of reactions, in particular multiple carbon-carbon bond forming cascades and to challenge existing synthetic methods in addition to inspire the development of new and efficient methodologies for the synthesis of complex molecules.